EXCLUSIVE: 'We just got fired on Christmas week': Williams-Sonoma fires scores of remote workers on mass conference calls after their seasonal jobs came to an abrupt end a month earlier than they expected
PUBLISHED: 11:13 EST, 22 December 2021 | UPDATED: 14:04 EST, 22 December 2021
Home goods giant Williams-Sonoma has fired scores of remote workers in a series of brutal conference calls more than a month before they expected their seasonal jobs to end, DailyMail.com can reveal.
In conference calls this week, the company fired remote employees who had worked for the upscale retailer and its subsidiary brands Pottery Barn and West Elm, according to one of the fired staffers, who asked not to be named.
'It's awful, people are devastated,' said the fired worker, a mother of two in Tampa, Florida who had worked as a furniture associate. 'I'm a single parent, I can no longer afford Christmas.'
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A spokeswoman for Williams-Sonoma insisted that the terminations took place in 'small group meetings' of roughly 10 to 15 over the phone because all the seasonal workers involved were remote.
The fired worker disputed this, telling DailyMail.com that there were more than 100 people on the conference call where she learned her fate, and sharing shocking video in which the line could be heard erupting in outrage.
Williams-Sonoma fires employees via conference call
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Messages on an internal message board show Williams-Sonoma workers discussing the mass firings and expressing confusion and dismay
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The company declined repeated requests from DailyMail.com to clarify the number of seasonal workers affected in the recent firings, as well as the total number of seasonal workers it employs.
Williams-Sonoma says that seasonal assignments can start and end at any time during the retail surge between August and January, and that the workers involved in the terminations had finished their assignments for the season.
'With a lot of seasonal work, the bulk of the work takes place prior to Christmas,' the spokeswoman explained. 'There's nothing that promises the end date of the seasonal assignment.'
But the fired employee said that the layoffs came more than a month before the workers expected their employment to finish at the end of January, throwing their lives into financial chaos just days before Christmas.
'This whole work from home culture now, there's such a lack of respect for workers,' she told DailyMail.com. 'It was just really awful to be treated this way.'
Shocking video of one of the calls shows a manager telling workers on the call: 'We want to thank you for your time with us and for helping us make the season a success.'
'Right after this call we want you to clock out,' the manager adds, as the conference call can be heard exploding with outraged remarks from the fired workers.
'You're doing this on Christmas week, whose idea was this?' asks the worker filming the call.
'This is not open for discussion, we're not having this conversation,' the manager responds.
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'We're going to have this conversation!' the worker retorts. 'What are you going to do, write me up? You gonna write me up? You just fired us!'
'Why would y'all put us all in this big Zoom meeting instead of doing it one-on-one,' another of the workers on the call is heard asking.
'If you have further questions, you need to go to HR,' the manager responds before hanging up.
Seconds later, a worker chimes in: 'I just joined the call, I'm not sure what's going on.'
'We got fired on Christmas week,' another person responds.
The fired employee who spoke to DailyMail.com said that through contact with other members of her training class, she is personally aware of five to six such mass firing calls in recent days.
She said that she was hired in early September along with a cohort of workers who believed their seasonal roles would last through the end of January.
But in the past week, she said, the company suddenly cracked down on overtime hours, banning workers from putting in extra hours to save up for Christmas expenses.
Then over the weekend, she heard from colleagues that they had been invited to mysterious dial-in meetings where they learned that they were terminated with immediate effect.
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On Monday, she said she got a similar meeting invite and immediately suspected what was afoot.
'They said clock in and get on the call, don't do any work,' she said. 'As soon as the call was over we were locked out of the company systems.'
The source said that the fired roles included those who worked remotely in roles such as customer service and logistics.
'I feel really awful, we're still in this pandemic, the new variant is coming about,' she said. 'This is a job that I knew was seasonal, and that's fine, but to put us all on a phone call a month earlier is so humiliating.'
A Williams-Sonoma spokeswoman told DailyMail.com that the company prides itself on its treatment of workers, including seasonal workers. 'These people are important to us,' she said.
'We hire them for a season, and they're informed it's a seasonal role,' she added.
The spokeswoman strongly disputed that the conference calls included over 100 workers at a time, saying that the calls were held with 10 to 15 members of the same team, in order to inform everyone simultaneously.
'Small group meetings were held, because it's seasonal assignments and those assignments are complete.'
The company says that it did not lay off any permanent workers during the disruptions from COVID-19.
- Williams-Sonoma and subsidiary Pottery Barn carried out the firings this week
- Seasonal staff had expected to work through January but were summarily fired
- The terminations followed crackdown on overtime hours, according to insider
- Shocking video shows manager telling remote workers their fate in mass call
- 'It was just really awful to be treated this way,' fired worker tells DailyMail.com
- Company says that seasonal assignments can end at any time without warning
- Spokeswoman insists the calls were held in small groups of team members
PUBLISHED: 11:13 EST, 22 December 2021 | UPDATED: 14:04 EST, 22 December 2021
Home goods giant Williams-Sonoma has fired scores of remote workers in a series of brutal conference calls more than a month before they expected their seasonal jobs to end, DailyMail.com can reveal.
In conference calls this week, the company fired remote employees who had worked for the upscale retailer and its subsidiary brands Pottery Barn and West Elm, according to one of the fired staffers, who asked not to be named.
'It's awful, people are devastated,' said the fired worker, a mother of two in Tampa, Florida who had worked as a furniture associate. 'I'm a single parent, I can no longer afford Christmas.'
Clairo Rates Hilary Duff, Criss Angel, and Peppa Pig
3:57
Pause
Next video
2:50 / 5:29
Full-screen
A spokeswoman for Williams-Sonoma insisted that the terminations took place in 'small group meetings' of roughly 10 to 15 over the phone because all the seasonal workers involved were remote.
The fired worker disputed this, telling DailyMail.com that there were more than 100 people on the conference call where she learned her fate, and sharing shocking video in which the line could be heard erupting in outrage.
Williams-Sonoma fires employees via conference call
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Messages on an internal message board show Williams-Sonoma workers discussing the mass firings and expressing confusion and dismay
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The company declined repeated requests from DailyMail.com to clarify the number of seasonal workers affected in the recent firings, as well as the total number of seasonal workers it employs.
Williams-Sonoma says that seasonal assignments can start and end at any time during the retail surge between August and January, and that the workers involved in the terminations had finished their assignments for the season.
'With a lot of seasonal work, the bulk of the work takes place prior to Christmas,' the spokeswoman explained. 'There's nothing that promises the end date of the seasonal assignment.'
But the fired employee said that the layoffs came more than a month before the workers expected their employment to finish at the end of January, throwing their lives into financial chaos just days before Christmas.
'This whole work from home culture now, there's such a lack of respect for workers,' she told DailyMail.com. 'It was just really awful to be treated this way.'
Shocking video of one of the calls shows a manager telling workers on the call: 'We want to thank you for your time with us and for helping us make the season a success.'
'Right after this call we want you to clock out,' the manager adds, as the conference call can be heard exploding with outraged remarks from the fired workers.
'You're doing this on Christmas week, whose idea was this?' asks the worker filming the call.
'This is not open for discussion, we're not having this conversation,' the manager responds.
+6
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'We're going to have this conversation!' the worker retorts. 'What are you going to do, write me up? You gonna write me up? You just fired us!'
'Why would y'all put us all in this big Zoom meeting instead of doing it one-on-one,' another of the workers on the call is heard asking.
'If you have further questions, you need to go to HR,' the manager responds before hanging up.
Seconds later, a worker chimes in: 'I just joined the call, I'm not sure what's going on.'
'We got fired on Christmas week,' another person responds.
The fired employee who spoke to DailyMail.com said that through contact with other members of her training class, she is personally aware of five to six such mass firing calls in recent days.
She said that she was hired in early September along with a cohort of workers who believed their seasonal roles would last through the end of January.
But in the past week, she said, the company suddenly cracked down on overtime hours, banning workers from putting in extra hours to save up for Christmas expenses.
Then over the weekend, she heard from colleagues that they had been invited to mysterious dial-in meetings where they learned that they were terminated with immediate effect.
+6
On Monday, she said she got a similar meeting invite and immediately suspected what was afoot.
'They said clock in and get on the call, don't do any work,' she said. 'As soon as the call was over we were locked out of the company systems.'
The source said that the fired roles included those who worked remotely in roles such as customer service and logistics.
'I feel really awful, we're still in this pandemic, the new variant is coming about,' she said. 'This is a job that I knew was seasonal, and that's fine, but to put us all on a phone call a month earlier is so humiliating.'
A Williams-Sonoma spokeswoman told DailyMail.com that the company prides itself on its treatment of workers, including seasonal workers. 'These people are important to us,' she said.
'We hire them for a season, and they're informed it's a seasonal role,' she added.
The spokeswoman strongly disputed that the conference calls included over 100 workers at a time, saying that the calls were held with 10 to 15 members of the same team, in order to inform everyone simultaneously.
'Small group meetings were held, because it's seasonal assignments and those assignments are complete.'
The company says that it did not lay off any permanent workers during the disruptions from COVID-19.
